Australia’s top 4 rated players amongst the last 6 contenders for the 2020 Vic Open.
The cancellation of the world-championships was disappointing for all, so magical Monte Carlo became the inspiration for the tournament format adopted by the Victorian Backgammon Association.
The 2020 Vic Open is down to the the quarter final stage with 2 completed quarter finals, one scheduled for tonight Friday 4th December and the other on Wednesday 9th December.
We reflect on the top-8 in the Main Event bracket.
1st Qtr-Final: Saeed Nourmohammadi (SA) d David Wells (VIC)
Saeed, the current no. 1 rated player on the Australian Backgammon Federation ratings, overcame ‘our’ new-Victorian and Backgammon Giant’s List-regular since 1997, the humble superstar from USA, no not Mason Cox, but the one and only David Wells.
David’s performance in this match, indeed the majority of his matches, was world-class. David is clearly one of the top chances for a slice the consolation bracket prize-money. Saeed will now face the winner of:
2nd Qtr-Final: Amir Golegolab (Iran) vs Gene McIntyre (TAS) 7:30pm AEDT Friday – starting soon
Watch live @ (https://meet.jit.si/vicbg)
Amir is one of the highest rated players in the world and plays from his home in Iran. Amir has been a feature of online backgammon in 2020, looking to break through here for his first major placing against the local Aussies.
Gene’s story is a good one to emerge from the sad virus realities. Based in rural Tasmania, Gene had no way, until now, of making an impact on the national rating system (https://results.ausbgf.org.au/ratings) and test himself against a large pool of the best players. Gene is a regular player at the VBA online weekly tournament matches, currently every Monday.
3rd Qtr-Final: Hossein Haydari (SA) d Martin Pikler (ACT)
Hossein needs no introduction. He is in top form and went through. Martin Pikler’s consistency in 2020 has been a feature. He will be there deep in the Consolidation and/or Last Chance Brackets. Hossein through to the semi-finals of the Vic Open ready to face the winner of:
4th Qtr-Final: Simon Ustick (VIC) v Len Brown (NSW/UK/Turkey)
No. 3 on the ratings takes on No. 4 for a place in the semi-final against the No. 2.
“I’m Australian .. one afternoon .. I saw some gentlemen playing in a pub in Sydney. That was Syd Moore’s chouette who were very welcoming to me – and where I learned to play properly over the next couple of years. I moved to London for work – also in IT, PokerStars, and since then I’ve been a part of the London bg scene – which really is fantastic – before Covid it was easy to play live 3 times a week there. I played around UK and attended tournaments in Europe / Cyprus regularly”
– Len Brown
Should be a thrilling 15-pointer on Wednesday night 8:30pm AEDT on Backgammon Galaxy.